Giving Voice to the Precariously Employed? Mapping and Exploring Channels of Worker Voice in Occupational Health and Safety Regulation

Published in Malcolm Sargeant and Martina Ori, eds., Vulnerable Workers and Precarious Working (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013), 33-70.

Osgoode CLPE Research Paper No. 14/2013

40 Pages Posted: 12 Mar 2013 Last revised: 7 Aug 2013

See all articles by Eric Tucker

Eric Tucker

York University - Osgoode Hall Law School; Cleveland State University - Cleveland State University College of Law

Date Written: March 11, 2013

Abstract

In most contemporary occupational health and safety (OHS) regimes, great emphasis is placed on amplifying worker voice in regulation through worker health and safety representation in the employers’ OHS management system. Historically, these regimes were designed on the assumption that the workers who would use these mechanisms were full-time workers having secure jobs with their current employers. This is manifestly no longer true, posing a serious challenge to the efficacy of these regimes.

After setting out the historical context of worker voice in OHS regulation, this paper begins by mapping out eight channels of worker voice based on the combination of three variables: the subject of worker voice, the object of worker voice and the audience for worker voice. The aim of this exercise is not only to provide greater analytical clarity to discussions of worker voice in OHS regulation, but to also open up the discussion about alternative models of worker voice that might better fit the reality of today’s labour market. The paper examines the research on how well precariously employed workers are able to use existing channels of voice and concludes by considering strategies and tactics for amplifying their voice in OHS regulation.

Keywords: occupational health and safety, regulation, labour law, precarious employment

Suggested Citation

Tucker, Eric, Giving Voice to the Precariously Employed? Mapping and Exploring Channels of Worker Voice in Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (March 11, 2013). Published in Malcolm Sargeant and Martina Ori, eds., Vulnerable Workers and Precarious Working (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013), 33-70., Osgoode CLPE Research Paper No. 14/2013 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2231767

Eric Tucker (Contact Author)

York University - Osgoode Hall Law School ( email )

4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://https://works.bepress.com/ericm_tucker/

Cleveland State University - Cleveland State University College of Law ( email )

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Cleveland, OH 44115-2214
United States

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